This article originally appeared in the Winter 2024 issue of EquiManagement. Sign up herefor a FREE subscription to EquiManagement’s quarterly digital or print magazine and any special issues.Atrophy, myofibrillar disarray, and desmin aggregation in skeletal muscle are hallmarks signs of several muscle disorders. | Amy K. Dragoo
As a veterinary student in the 1980s, Stephanie Valberg, DVM, PhD, DACVIM (LAIM), DACVSMR, realized the profession knew little about how horses’ bodies function during exercise and what parameters should be used to measure fitness. She dreamed of pursuing a career in large animal medicine; however, her own autoimmune disorder put an abrupt end to that path. That didn’t diminish Valberg’s passion to work with horses and learn about exercise physiology, training, and muscle. Fueled by the promise of a treadmill and scholarship, Valberg jumped at the opportunity to begin her career in academia in Sweden.
“I had amazing mentors with a device that few others had—a muscle biopsy tool as well as a high-speed treadmill,” she recalls. “We were able to look at what happened in muscle when horses exercise and adapt to training.”
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